Compromised
by AnExpressionOfWisdom
Summary: Tony has never trusted with ease, but after two years with the Avengers he thought he could share this particular detail and they would stand behind him. For a time he was the happiest he could remember since before Obiadah had tried to take him out. Implied Slash.
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to my new story. This is one coming from a completely new angle - first Avengers fic. I hope you enjoy. In some of the later chapters I'm referencing some Norse mythology, which I've turned up in some basic googling so if I get it wrong let me know and I'll fix it. It is rated for language and implied slash. Enjoy!

**Disclaimer:** Avengers is a Mavel product, I only claim my plot.

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Chapter One

"Hi guys," Tony introduced himself to the room from the doorway of the home theatre where all the Avengers were quibbling over what movie to watch.

"Tony!" yelled Clint. "Tell me you want to watch Men in Tights. Tasha is vetoing it because she thinks it's immature and not funny - but you know that's blasphemy!"

"Clint we watched that two weeks ago." replied Steve trying to placate the archer.

"But it's a classic Steve, one that should be enjoyed at every opportunity."

"Then, Clint," Natasha drawled, "you can go watch it by yourself."

Clint had his mouth open to fire back at the red head, when Bruce piped up from the couch across the room.

"Tony, are you alright?" he said, his soft calm manner coloured with concern.

Tony was still standing in the doorway and he was definitely acting nervous. His back foot was scratching his other shin and his hands were clasped tightly. The collective avengers looked at Bruce as he spoke before taking in the normally boisterous Tony. He felt everyone's eyes on him and slowly unclasped his hands, dropping his arms to his sides in an effort to relax, they are his friends he reminded himself, they wouldn't take it too bad.

Steve was half out of his chair with his arm out toward the billionaire, "Tony...?" His tone was worried, looking for the cause of this attitude.

"I'm okay guys, actually better than okay. I just don't know quite how you'll take this." Tony cleared his throat and straightened putting his hands behind his back. "There is someone I want you to meet, well re-meet." The others exchanged concerned looks. "I ran into them again a while back and we've been dating for a couple a months and it's gotten more serious and we wanted you to know." Tony trailed off.

"Come on Tony, stop stalling and bring her out here. It's not like she can be that bad and it's been almost a year since Pepper and you split. Personally I'm more surprised you jumped into another relationship so soon. It's not in your profile; you're more the sleep through most of Manhattan type." Concluded Natasha.

"Actually he's not a girl." stated Tony reaching into the other room and pulling through a protesting black haired man.

"Tony," the man whinged, "did you really need to manhandle me?" He smoothed the black slacks he was wearing before looking up into the gobsmacked faces in front of the odd couple.

Bruce was the first to recover, "I didn't know you had a gay bone in your body Tony."

"Well big guy, your research is lacking! I've bedded plenty of men over the years. The media just doesn't like portraying the All American patriot as swinging both ways - they got over that while I was still in my 20s. I like to call it selective journalism." said Tony smirking with the quip.

"Wait, wait, wait." Clint exclaimed. "That's Loki!"

"Well done birdbrain, gold star." Tony snarked.

"Tony," Steve said warningly as he repositioned himself in a defensive stance. Natasha was already up, on guard ready to draw a knife at a moment's notice.

"Rodgers." he replied, moving in front of Loki protectively, staring down the man-out-of-time.

"Tony," said Loki placing his hand on one of Tony's tense shoulders. "It's okay." Loki moved forward with is hand out for the Captain to shake. Addressing the man Loki continued, "Captain Rodgers, I don't think we've been formally introduced. I am Loki Odinson

Steve stiffened, not wanting to take the hand between them but his old fashioned manners fought against rejecting this polite social interaction. The silence stretched until Loki was ready to retract his hand, at the last moment Steve brought his hand to meet the God's, gritting his teeth, not dropping eye contact.

"You're meant to be on Asgard under punishment." Black Widow snarled voice deadly.

"I've fulfilled my punishment Ms Romanoff." the God replied coolly. "I am not here to cause trouble I'm just here to be introduced to the people my boyfriend views as family. At his request." he turned slightly to include Tony. They moved together in a practiced synchronisation, completely innocently as though it was subconscious. Tony wrapped his arm around Loki's waist moving to step up next to him.

"Guys, Loki's changed. He has reformed, he is remorseful for his part in what happened two years ago. He has paid for what happened and worked through the issues that sent him down that road. Please, you accepted me for all my faults, we all have faults. Please give him a chance despite his faults. You heard him, he introduced himself as Odinson for fucks sake."

"Get away from him Tony. He has you under his sorcery spell thingo." Clint demanded. Bruce was now the only one left sitting at least partially relaxed.

"Can you see blue sparkly eyes idiot, and I certainly don't feel _empty_." Tony snarled back.

"I'm sure he has another way." He replied.

"I am fully in possession of my faculties. And this was not an opportunity for you lot to protest my relationship it is a courtesy to let you know that Loki will be around in plain sight from now on and you will be treating him with respect. He'll be at the tower and may join us for dinners and movies when he is on earth and visiting me so you can go screw yourself if you are unhappy with this arrangement."

Tony was staring Clint down, arms over his chest. Clint snarled, a feral sound more like a dog than the bird he was compared to most often. Before he spun and stalked out the other door leading towards the gym. Natasha gave Tony an unreadable look then followed the archer out.

Tony's shoulders slumped as the two disappeared.

"Hey," Loki consoled, "we knew this wasn't going to be the easiest thing in the world, and at one point I did possess him Tony. Let him come around to it and you know Ms Romanoff, she is overly suspicious and the two of them have been through a lot together, they have each other's backs, always."

Tony squeezed his hand and gave him a genuine smile, "Thanks."

Bruce cleared his throat moving forward to the front of his seat. "So Odinson?" he queried.

Loki gave a grateful half smile while Tony tugged him down to a sofa and Steve took up residence against the wall with his own arms crossed.

"I took my enforced time in my father's palace as an opportunity to talk with my parents. Over the time I came to realise that although they aren't my birth parents and they didn't tell me about my adoption it was not malicious or out of some need to collect trophies. Our relationship is far from perfect but we are now talking and I feel that with time it can only improve now everything is in the open. To this, I have now taken back my chosen name."

"Okay," said Bruce with measured words. "How did this start? Surely it was not something that just happened..."

Tony took up the mantle for this part of the tale, "You remember after Pepper and I ended and I was boozing and sleeping my way through Manhattan, as Nat put it?" At Bruce's nod, he continued, "Well I had made my way to a small bar off 42nd Street and this one was sitting at the bar nursing a drink. I was halfway to drunk and by the time I realised just who I was rambling to I was about three drinks too far to care. Told him if he was there to kill me to hurry up and get it over with."

Bruce threw a concerned look at Steve, he knew Tony had it tough when Pepper had ended it but he didn't realise Tony had got quite that low. He though the billionaire was just letting off steam and drowning himself in booze and sex like he had years previously, before Pepper. Now he thought he should probably not rely on newspapers as a reliable source on Tony quite so much.

"Anyway instead of killing me he took me back to the hotel he was staying in and got me a room and put me in bed. When I woke up the next morning he was downstairs waiting with breakfast. We talked, warily at first then as the day moved on we relaxed slightly. He was on Earth to finish off his punishment much like Thor was. Without his magic and he only got that back once he proved himself worthy of it by connecting with some 'Midgardians'. Instead of going to a bar to lose myself in another warm body the following night I sought out Loki instead. The conversation was stimulating, he can kept up with me and our debates and questions about magic vs. science were - are - heated. Eventually it evolved into more."

"You know you could have come to me right? I could have helped." Bruce spoke.

"I didn't want the pity. I needed someone who wouldn't give meaningless consolation." Tony replied looking anywhere but Bruce.

Steve piped up from his side of the room, "How long?" he said uncomfortably.

"Ten months next week." Tony said relieved to move the conversation away from his destructive behaviour, he hated talking about his emotions.

Steve nodded, "I know this sort of relationship is more accepted now-a-days but I will have to take time to get use to the idea, in my time it was an arrest-able offense. I will give Mr Odinson a chance. Are you happy Tony?"

"Yes." replied Tony, completely serious meeting Steve's eyes.

"I will talk to Clint and Natasha." was the response, Tony nodded and Steve moved out of the room. It was just the three of them left. Bruce sunk back into his seat more relaxed now.

"Does Thor know?"

"No, we thought he was with you all." Loki commented.

"He is visiting Jane in Boston for the weekend. He'll be back on Tuesday. I think he'll be okay with it though, he is always talking about what you two use to do as kids. He still obviously loves you."

"Thank you, we hope so."

* * *

Over the next couple of weeks Tony was happier than he could previously remember, since before Obadiah ordered him killed. He had a group of people who loved him like family and Loki who was not only his lover but his best friend. He even started joking around with Pepper again when she required his signature on company documents.

When Thor had arrived back at the tower with Jane in tow on that Tuesday he had taken one look at Loki before booming out his name, engulfing him in a hug and spinning him forward to meet the 'fair Miss Jane'. He had taken the relationship in stride with only a cursory, older brother threat that was made completely redundant by the grin splitting his face in half. It was made even better in Tony's mind by Loki burying his face in his shoulders in embarrassment.

Even Clint started to warm up to the God of Mischief when he encountered a flustered Loki in the kitchen trying to cook Tony something as he had been in the lab too long and 'hadn't eaten in much too long for you humans'. The way Clint told it, Loki had egg on his cheek and shell in the omelette, topped off with a pink fluffy apron.

It was a time of relative quiet for the Avengers. There had been small jobs that mainly Natasha and Clint had completed but nothing requiring the whole team.

It was a Friday when Steve walked into the room where all the Avengers except Thor were passing the day. Loki was currently visiting his folks on Asgard. "Doctor Doom has unleashed a new wave of robots in Chicago. Thor is on his way, we need to move."

"Alright boys and girls," Tony stood clapping his hands together, ready to go a couple rounds, "suit up!"

There was no response to his exclamation. The entire group silently stared straight ahead or at the ground as was their nature. He looked at them and tried again, "Up and at 'em losers. As good as I am I can't fight these guys by myself, never thought you'd hear me say that did you."

"You're not going." Clint casually let out into the tense room.

"What are you talking about, I know those robots the best, you need me." Tony said taken a back.

"You're compromised." stated Clint, steel in his voice.

"What...?" was the flabbergasted response.

The rest of the group stayed silent.

"You've been sleeping and consorting with a hostile. You are a liability, especially if Loki has a hand in this."

"What...?" Tony said, shocked, he didn't know where this was coming from. Everyone had been getting along, they had seen Loki had changed! "Loki is in Asgard, visiting Odin and helping with preparations for the festival of Lithasblot."

"Sorry Tony." Steve said, watching the lost look on the inventors face.

Betrayal. It was the only thing he could think when faced with the people around him. He thought the Avengers knew, understood. He could feel the anger that had protected him his whole life start to seep back into him. It wasn't until then he realised that he had released his anger at the world.

His walls slammed into place and he drew himself up into his business persona, despite wearing only jeans and an old Metallica shirt there wasn't an inch of the Tony the others had got use to seeing around the tower.

"I quit." was said into the silence, his voice flat, "S.H.I.E.L.D. and all Avengers have 24 hours to remove their belongings from Stark Industries property before it is impounded. Anyone found on Stark property after 10am tomorrow morning will find themselves prosecuted for trespassing."

The billionaire turned from who he had minutes ago thought were his confidences and moved towards the deployment structure for his suit. As he walked down the platform outside, the suit formed around him and he took off without another word.

"Fuck."

No one had really heard Bruce swear before, but no one could really fault him, it was just about what everyone was thinking. They knew Tony would take it badly, but quitting the Avengers?

"Do you think he means it?" was Steve's question to the group.

"I think it is in our best interest to assume he does, we better follow his demands and we can try and talk him around later. Right now we have to inform Fury and go and look after those robots in Chicago." Natasha reasoned.

"I'm an idiot." moaned Clint.

"Really, you're just getting that?" Sarcasm was dripping from Bruce's words. "You're informing Fury, this is your mess - great way to handle the issue, I told you we should have told him before. Let's go, I could really use a couple of robots to pound to a pulp and I'm not sure I'll make it until we get there without Hulking-out unless we leave now."

In wake of Bruce's anger the four of them headed to the jet in silence, tense.

The only thing spoken on the way was the Captain's mission brief and Clint's phone call to the Director. In which he was ripped a new one, ending with a terse, "I'll handle it." and a dropped line.

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	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Tony was pushing the Iron Man suit as hard as it would go, zooming down to Malibu. Just trying to get away from his feelings, leave them behind.

"JARVIS - invoke lockdown on New York Tower living quarters code alpha-box-three-two-five-nine due for completion at 1000 tomorrow. Inform Miss Potts unless the company is imploding she is to work out the issues by herself, I will be working on a new project."

"Sir, are you sure that is advisable? Shall I contact Mr Loki Odinson?"

"He's busy. And he is meant to be returning tonight."

Tony ignored JARVIS's further response after reiterating the lockdown code. When he got to his beachside home, he immediately locked himself in his lab.

"JARVIS pull up the ideas folder I need something simple."

The folder opened up with schematics scattered around him. "No" he said as preliminary specs for Steve's new shield popped up, he trashed the new arrow tips for Clint with more force than necessary, he squished any desire to investigate a new material for shorts for Bruce and when designs for knife storage in Natasha's room came up he up-ended the table beside him. Sending his tech crashing to the floor.

Before the sound had stopped reverberating around the lab Tony had slid to the floor in the middle of the mess releasing a broken sob.

* * *

When Loki arrived across the Bifrost he was confused to find himself in Malibu rather than New York but he resolved Tony must have decided a break by the beach, just the two of them, was warranted. The lab was a mess, Tony must have found a new exploding project to amuse himself. He was just about to move further into the messy lab when he heard a sob coming from behind the destroyed desk.

"Tony...?" Loki queried. He moved around the desk. Tony was curled up with an almost empty bottle of scotch clutched in a hand and another bottle lying beside him. He was surrounded by broken glass and splinters of wood. Some had pierced his skin and he had lines of blood on his face, arms and legs and his shirt was ripped exposing the arc reactor. The blue device was dislodged and the skin surrounding it had red grazes where fingernails had clawed at it.

"TONY!" he yelled panic surrounding the God, rushing forward he reinserted the reactor. "Tony, Tony - what happened? Are you alright?" When his only response was the lolling of his head and a glassy stare Loki turned to JARVIS.

"JARVIS how long has he been like this?"

The AI didn't respond. Tony did. "I pulled his power." he slurred. "He was going to answer Fury's call and then didn't want to keep Capsicle off the property so I pulled the plug on the bastard before he betrayed me too."

Loki was horrified! What had happened while he was gone?

Tony continued, "Are you going to leave too? I'm just a self-centred arsehole that will never achieve anything with an ego the size of Asia and a God complex-" he rambled, "funny that, because I'm fucking a god!"

"Oh Tony, what did they do?" Loki spoke to himself as his boyfriend hiccupped and fell silent. When he tried to bring the bottle back to his lips Loki pried it out of his hand saying, "I think that's enough."

Tony protested but Loki just pulled the distraught man into a hug. He clung onto the God breaking into tears and slowly, wet saturated Loki's Asgardian robes. When Tony exhausted himself Loki lifted the man cradled against him and made his way to bed carrying the limp figure.

In the bedroom he carefully laid him on the bed, lovingly stripping the man of his ruined clothes. Once he was naked he slowly traced each scrape, bruise and cut allowing his magic to heal every one. When he was done he tucked Tony in and placed a kiss on his forehead imparting a dreamless spell upon the prone figure, allowing his lover to sleep without nightmares for the night.

When he was sure Tony would not wake until morning Loki moved off the bed and disappeared from the bedroom.

* * *

The magician reappeared in S.H.I.E.L.D. Headquarters in the conference room where Fury had gathered the Avengers. His arrival prompted drawn weapons and his appearance didn't help matters, one shoulder was wet, his robes had splodges of blood and his hair was out of its generally pristine position.

"Brother!" Thor started.

"Shut up Point Break." Loki snapped.

The God was enraged. "What did you do?" he snarled at Fury, hands slamming down on the table and his skin crackling with magic.

Fury stood tall. "Mr Laufeyson-"

"Odinson"

"Odinson, it is classified information that only S.H.I.E.L.D personal have access-"

"It becomes _unclassified_ when I come home to find my partner well into his second bottle of scotch, with cuts and bruises all over him and the device keeping him alive out of his chest."

There was a sharp intake of breathe from Bruce, Thor and Steve.

"If Mr Stark has decided the world is too much, there is no evidence that I or my team had anything to do with it." Fury continued trying to deflect the angry sorcerer.

"Oh I'm sorry," Loki countered, magic turning malicious, "Did I forget to mention his rambling about the Avengers and a betrayal? Tell me WHAT HAPPENED!" he demanded.

Fury stayed silent. It was Natasha that spilt the beans earning the ferocious gaze of the God.

"We told him he was compromised and could no longer join us on missions. He quit."

"Idiots." Loki snarled back. He removed himself from the room before he took his anger out on one of them.

"Well at least he didn't kill us." Clint said into the silence.

"I'm moving back to Calcutta." was Bruce's disgusted reply. "Only contact me if there is a world ending scenario on level with the Chitauri." he stood and exited the room.

"I will be engaged in trying to re-establish a personal relationship with my brother in arms." Thor boomed and Natasha and Steve followed the Norse God out.

Only Fury and Clint remained. "You headed out the door?" The Director demanded resigned to losing the Avengers initiative and brain already whirling with the impossible options he had to find.

"I fucked up. Tony won't want to be anywhere near me and I have nothing outside S.H.I.E.L.D."

"Neither has Agent Romanoff."

"She has not always been S.H.I.E.L.D."

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	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

Tony found himself curled into a warm body as he rose from sleep, "Hmmm, Loki." he said burying further into his lover's warmth.

Loki's fingers continued carding gently through Tony's messy hair. "Morning darling," he softly replied not wanting to wake him up to the harsh reality quite yet. "Would you like to come to Asgard for Lithasblot? Mother and Father would like to meet you. We could stay a while."

Despite his best efforts Tony still stiffened when yesterday caught up with him. "That might be a good idea." the billionaire choked. Firming up his voice he continued, "It's the festival about magic isn't it? I'll get to see you perform?"

"Yes Tony." Loki smiled sadly.

"JARVIS lockdown on departure." Tony commanded, turning to Loki.

"Tony," Loki started softly, "you unplugged him last night."

"Oh. Well then lockdown will have automatically engaged." he swallowed.

"Do you want to talk about it?" prompted Loki.

"Nope. Nothing to talk about. Let's go. Move your booty. Asgard here we come! I'll be the first human to visit another realm! Suck on that Armstrong!" false cheer radiated out of the engineer.

"Okay. Pack a small bag."

As Tony moved off to gather his things talking about equipment to investigate the differences between the two worlds, Loki sighed.

The two had worked so hard on resolving both his and Tony's insecurities and issues and now here Tony was almost back at square one. Loki was more than frustrated at the Avengers and the damage they had achieved with a simply sentence. It is always the closest to us that can destroy our defences most effectively.

* * *

Upon their arrival on the Bifrost, Tony's brain went into overdrive.

The teleportation, the figure Heimdall from legend with his giant sword, the rainbow bridge, the falls, the golden buildings and palace, the multi-coloured sky stretched above him...

Loki was pleased that Tony was finding pleasure from the new puzzles presented to him. He dissected Loki's homeland like a physicist did with an atom as they walked towards the palace. Loki was happy to listen because it acted as a distraction for Tony allowing some time to heal his gaping wound a little.

As the pair approached the golden archway at the far end of the bridge Loki interrupted Tony in amusement. "Anthony, you can setup the altimeter and all your other equipment I have shrunk in your bag later. Right now I would like to take you up to meet my parents."

"Parents, okay. Royal parents - got it." The scientist gulped.

"Do not fret, I have talked of you to both Father and Mother and they have been looking forward to meeting you."

"Okay." Tony smiled at his partner and Loki squeezed his hand in response as the two entered the city and onto the palace.

Loki opened the majestic doors leading to the family quarters then followed closely behind Tony.

"My son!" Frigga exclaimed, "You are back so soon. We were not expecting you until the festival in a moons time."

The goddess moved forward to embrace her son, bestowing a kiss to each of his cheeks. "And who do we have here? You must be Tony Stark! My Loki has talked much about you. I am so glad to finally meet you."

"Thank you your majesty. It is truly an honour to meet you."

"Oh Loki he is a dear. Please call me Frigga, you are after all meeting the mother of your boyfriend, not the queen." the goddess smiled at the engineer.

"Mother," said Loki, taking enjoyment from Tony's flustered facade. He didn't think the playboy had ever met the parents before. "You cannot say his manners are perfect before you get to know the real Tony. A consummate slob we have here in our mist." he poked Tony in the ribs causing him to curve away from the tickling fingers.

"Hey mister God of Mischief, and don't forget we could say so much about your manners." Tony retaliated.

Frigga's joyful laugh reverberated through the hall and it broke the awkward tension, relaxing the three and the afternoon was spent in an exchange of Loki stories between Frigga and Tony, while the god himself attempted, unsuccessfully, to silence the most horrific.

* * *

Several months after the incident at S.H.I.E.L.D, Thor and Bruce were seated in Bruce's shack in Calcutta where he had gone back to treating those unable to get help. They were sharing a bottle of Tony's favourite scotch.

"Do you drink this often Doctor?" Thor broke the silence.

"No. It is mainly here to remind me. Have you had any luck finding him?"

"No, our search has been fruitless my friend. Steve and I have searched tirelessly across this realm for a location but alas nothing has appeared."

"What about Natasha?"

"She has gone to ground. Given me a family to contact should we find him. I think she is conducting her own search."

"What about Asgard? Have you searched your own realm?"

"The Man of Iron could not be there - no Midgarian has ever been to Asgard."

"It might be worth a look. He was after all dating your brother and Loki has also disappeared from Earth."

"I will look into it." Thor was contemplative. "It is an excellent idea my friend. When did you think of it?"

"I had my suspicions when Loki left the meeting. That is why I did not truly join you in your search."

"Why did you not voice this first? We could have found him very quickly if it is the case!"

"I believe Tony needed the space, and time and I hoped he would come back by now."

"Oh, well I will head to Asgard to enquire of my Father whether Tony has been by. Heimdall may be able to help too."

"Good luck."

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	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Loki and Odin were seated with the other Gods of Asgard holding court beneath the ash tree, Yggdrasil, when Thor arrived.

"My son." Odin greeted the returning prince.

Thor gave an obligatory, "Father", before zeroing in on Loki. "Loki-"

"Brother. Greetings, do sit we were discussing the differences between the Midgard and Asgard realms."

Thor took his court seat realising he must allow the court's discussion to be concluded before he could truly approach his query with Loki. Having just returned from Midgard himself he was called upon to contribute to the day's debate.

Once it had drawn to a close and the Gods had dispersed to continue their day, Thor moved to follow Loki as he moved away from Yggdrasil.

"Brother, I must ask you whether you have seen the Man of Iron. I have been searching for him for many moons and I have not found him upon Midgard, is he here with you?"

Loki turned to scrutinise the God of Thunder, unsure he should release Tony's location to him and whether Tony would want or benefit from seeing the man. Thor, on observation, seemed to have shrunk in the intervening months since he and Tony had left Midgard, he looked near to defeat and truly did not look as he should.

Tony had improved significantly since they had arrived, while he would probably not trust any of the Avengers to the extent he once had, the presence and persistence of Frigga's mothering and Odin's gruff father-like presence had slowly reopened the scientist to the possibility of trusting other beings again. He had relaxed into the Asgardian lifestyle and was furiously documenting any and all anomalies of this realm over his mother-realm. Their relationship had blossomed and Loki could no longer see his long immortal life without the scientist. He had been talking to Odin in confidence about allowing Tony to partake of the Golden Apples of Idunn, the produce that sustains the lifespan of him and his kindred.

Thor was nervous under Loki's considering gaze and voiced a quiet "Please..." in a desperate plea for Loki to favour him an answer. However, before Loki could answer his brother in either way the figure of their discussed walked towards them, head buried in notes, pen behind his ear and mouth moving a mile a minute.

"Loki, the anoxic properties of the water here are amazing, blows biology and physics out of the water – literally - that the atmospheric oxygen is not transferred into the water and the life forms I found, that serpent – serious temper on that one, he didn't like the needle, I only wanted a small sample… talking samples I've been meaning to get one off you too. I want to compare our DNA structure." Out of nowhere the man produced a needle jabbing it into Loki's exposed arm once he was within range.

"Anthony, a little warning next time please, you know I will indulge you." Loki smiled.

"Tony-?" choked out Thor.

The man stiffened briefly at the familiar voice before turning to the God of Thunder and plastering a smile across his features. "Shakespeare, how's things? Love to stay and chat but I really do need to run this back to my lab, you know experiments and all manner of things I would explain but it would go straight over your head." Waving the needle in his hand, he started backing away, returning from where he had come.

Before he had moved more than a few steps Loki drew the man back to him, "My heart, stay briefly and talk to Thor."

He turned in Loki's embrace and looked at the man facing him. "Want me back do you? I have no intention of going anywhere near you or the rest of the team." He bit out at the God in front of him.

"Tony," Thor pleaded, "there is no team, we disbanded months ago, we have been searching for you, as your friends."

"Friends trust each other Point Break. So technically us – definitely, _not _friends."

"We did not intend for it to appear that way when Clint said it. The Director had us by the throat we were going to tell you that afternoon, and it was only until Loki could prove to the Director his trustworthiness – we fought for –"

"Oh so you were gossiping about me with Fury like pre-pubescent high school girls, so much more heartening." Tony drawled.

Thor looked heartbroken as Tony ripped himself out of Loki's grip and stalked off. Thor made to follow but Loki placed a hand on his chest. "Allow him his dignity Brother. It is hard on him especially that he did not expect your presence. Go back to Midgard; tell your fellows that he is safe and healing. I will try to make him amenable to a visit though I promise nothing." Resigned Thor nodded and the two parted ways.

* * *

Loki and Frigga were seated in the gardens the following day. "Mother, I am concerned for Tony, as much as he is happy and healing I feel as though he still desperately misses the Avengers. They were a part of his life for a long period of time and I believe whatever he projects, he still cares for them."

"It is up to him as to who he wants to see. All we can do is point him in the right direction."

"Yes, I know but how should I talk him around. Thor was miserable that Tony would not talk to him and Tony's inability to put the issue aside with Thor shows just how much he wants his old friends back, I feel as though I am not enough."

"My darling, your man loves you dearly, and it is obvious to all us here including the Warriors Three." Loki snorted in amusement. "There is no reason to doubt his affections. Talk to him about it. That is all the advice I can give."

Later that evening when Loki and Tony were curled together in bed, Loki broached the subject.

"Tony," Tony, hummed to show he was listening, "have you thought about possibly talking to Thor or any of the others? I know you do not want to live with them or lean on them again but I conversation? I know you miss their company."

"They didn't trust you and by proxy me." He replied in a small voice, curling further into Loki.

"Fury was holding their opinion hostage; it was after all only two years previous I had almost flattened New York, it was logical for them to be cautious around me."

Tony didn't reply immediately and Loki allowed him to digest what had been said, carding his fingers soothingly through his hair.

When he did reply is was in a tone that portrayed the revelation of a dark secret. "I want to see Bruce."

"We can do that." Was the reply, and that was all for that night.

* * *

Bruce was headed back to his shack on the outskirts of the village in the backwaters of Guatemala. He had been helping the local Sharman with medicinal herb collection in the jungle for the day. He was looking once more for a method get rid of the Other Guy and the Sharman was teaching him the properties of different jungle plants in exchange for some Western drugs that were needed in one of the villages he served.

He opened the door and froze when he heard a familiar voice, "Big Guy! Good scotch you've got here, so glad my tastes have started to rub off on you, though we really need to work on this persistent need to live in squalor."

Bruce stared at the man seated at his rickety dining table swilling some of the scotch Thor and he had been drinking the previous week.

"What not even a – 'how you been, good lookin'? Come on man, I haven't seen you in almost a year."

"Tony!" he exclaimed when his body finally caught up with his brain. He rushed forward and embraced his fellow scientist. "I'm so sorry, for what happened, I tried to stop it but Fury wasn't moving and I tried to tell them, they needed to tell you earlier."

"Hey! Hey, really let's not fall apart here." He joked, but he was touched Bruce was so pleased to see him. "I'm only here for a quick visit, thought I'd come on over for a drink, catch up all that jazz. No need for weeping and emotions, etc. They only get in the way."

Bruce backed off and took the only other chair in his sparse shack, while Tony poured him a dram. "Are you here for long, Tony?"

"Loki is expecting me back in a couple of hours."

"So you and Loki survived that whole thing…" Bruce trailed off.

"Yeah," Tony said with a small smile. "He's my rock, he fights for me however much I try to push him away – he won't let me."

"I'm glad Tony." Lifting his glass he took a small sip, allowing it to burn a path down his throat. "You need someone like that. Have you seen any of the others?"

"I ran into Thor briefly in Asgard." Tony's voice was controlled.

"I thought you might be there. What is it like?"

From there the two descended into scientific analysis of the differences Tony had observed and documented, re-bonding over their common curiosity. Hours later Tony returned to Asgard, leaving Bruce with instructions on how to bring Steve, Natasha, Thor and Clint to visit him.

When his old team mate came to Asgard, they met and talked about what happened and they left back to Earth with an understanding. Tony was not returning with them, he had found his place but the six of them would be keeping in touch. And the others understood his reasons and could see his happiness and they were just glad that they were able to still be a part of Tony's life.

-THE END-

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